On Goals...

As a Stay At Home Mom, sometimes I feel like I am riding a ferris wheel.
Round and Round. Seemingly getting nowhere. (It is exciting, though!)
In November, I am going to write down a goal, with the prompting of Rachel Anne over at homesanctuary. (homesanctuary.typepad.com). So here it is, on paper and pencil! (:

My goal for November is to get a weekly/daily/monthly plan in place for my work at home, tasks that need to be completed, and for myself. And then, follow it!! Hopefully this will help me jump off the ferris wheel, and move to the roller coaster!

Company Girl Coffee 10.30

Wow! It's great to be back! Since May (?), I lost touch with the Company Girls. Last week, I felt moved to come back and see what was going on back here, and Oh, how I missed it! Beginning in November, I'll be a point-getting maniac! (: Since I have no Small Things to discuss this week, I'll just share one of my recent favorite pictures. It is my sweety and our three little ones hiking a gorge last week. I was walking behind, and just saw the perfect picture. I am so glad that I captured this moment. He is such a great Christian example to our children, and I am so blessed to have him as my other half!

Thanks for stopping in!

I'm looking forward to being a Company Girl once more!!!

~Tricia

Company Girl Coffee 5.1

Is it May already?!! I've always heard it said that time gets faster the older you get. I am seeing what people mean, now! I've also heard that Time Flies when you're having fun. That could be part of it, too! (: I am sooo excited about tomorrow morning. My small community is having its semi-annual garage sale, and my mom is coming down so we can go check all 40 of them out! ha. Okay, maybe not *all* of them, but... maybe 39! After we have had our fill of them, we're going to my great aunt's to get a bunch of rhubarb. How many different ways can you make rhubarb? I may be about to find out! This rhubarb adventure started when my neighbor told me a couple of weeks ago that he wanted me to make him a rhubarb pie, jokingly, sort of! (; I said if he could get some for me, I'd be happy to. We couldn't think of anywhere, so the idea kind of died. Later, I remembered from when I was young, going to my great aunts and picking rhubarb. She is elderly now and doesn't use it much anymore, so her son said that we are welcome to all we want. I remember huge amounts of the stuff-and that was when she used a lot, too! But, that was also 25 years ago! I am excited to surprise my neighbor (and my aunt) with a pie! Thanks for stopping in, I hope your weekend is superb!

New Recipe

Rachel Anne, at Home Sanctuary asked us to try a new recipe this week and post about it. We tried Pizza Biscuit Bake, which I found on Recipezaar.com as a highly rated recipe. I know this is no earth-shattering recipe, but we always make traditionally-crusted pizza. This was verrry good, and everyone gobbled it up, even the baby! (I didn't put pepperoni on the kids' part)

Here is the Link if you want to try it yourself!

Company Girl Coffee 4.24

Don't know what I'm talking about? Go here to find out!
We are enjoying the BEAUTIFUL weather around here!!! I bought Gwyneth her first pair of flip flops this week-and she wears them to walk in!! That's my girl! (: I better get going-enjoying those chubby toes! Hope you have a great weekend, thanks for stopping in!

Company Girl Coffee 4.17

Hi all! I am so glad you stopped by today! Rachel Anne had a great post today over at Home Sanctuary, don't you think?! After I finished my Master's Degree (we were already married with a 2 year old), we felt God calling me to stay home until our children were all in school. We decided that we would have to make some sacrifices, financially, to create the home environment we longed for! I am going to just bullet list some of the ways that we have found work for us to make it work on a shoestring, as Rachel would say!

*I would have to say firstly, and MOST importantly is that we always seek God's guidance in our finances, and we always try to be on the same page (I know that this sounds absurdly obvious, but you'd be surprised...!) I know that everyone says you're not supposed to, but we use our debit cards for EVERYTHING! We have found that this is the easiest way for us to keep track of our spending. The trick is to 1)keep all of your receipts and 2)keep track of them. We use a small basket on the desk to gather receipts, and then once a day or every other day, I enter them into Microsoft Money, itemizing everything. Once a week, we have a "finance meeting", which starts off with prayer. The day before, I print up spending reports for the past week, and make an agenda of any money-related business. On John's day off (Teuesday), we sit down with coffee first thing and go over everything. It makes me think twice on each transaction, because I know that it is going to be scrutinized in black and white at our next meeting!
*We have no cable and dial up (YES, you read that right!) internet. When I was in school, all of my friends called me the "amish" one because I had no cell phone when everyone else did! We do have them now. You don't always have to have the newest-latest. You will survive!!(;
*We stay home! This is one of the biggest things we have found in saving money. Everytime we go do something outside the home, we spend money! Gas, snacks, events, food, etc. are all expenses, and little ones add up! It's virtually free to have a bonfire out back while the kids run through the yard catching fireflies (and so much less stressful than Disney World)
*We try to be content in the Lord. This is hard sometimes. Our sinful nature makes us want, want, want. I constantly pray for contentment, and try to faithfully seek it in Him!
I could go on and on, but I will restrain myself! Thank you for stopping in, I am so looking forward to snooping around and see what great ideas you have! Have a wonderful wonderful weekend!
~Tricia

Company Girl Coffee 4.10 Good Friday

Welcome, Rachel Anne's Company Girls! I can't chat long this morning, I have a long list today, but I just wanted to say Hi! We are looking forward to spending time praising God this weekend for sending his Son to earth to die on a lowly cross for our sins! Praise God for such a sacrificial display of love, and a free gift of eternal life! When I was very young, I always thought it was was dumb that they called it "Good" Friday. I always thought it should be called Sad Friday! But as I've grown, Wow, when it comes to eternal perspective, Wow! What a great day! I am so thankful for a loving and just God. It is so easy to get lost in the Easter Grass and jelly beans, and lose focus of Why it is, exactly, we are celebrating this weekend. I strive to focus on the TRUE meaning of Easter. Have a blessed weekend!

~Tricia